Eight People Bought Useless $1,000 iPhone App

Of those eight, six reside in the United States, and the others are in France and Germany. Not shocking: We all knew some people out there would be rich (and wasteful) enough to throw away money at Armin Heinrich’s "I Am Rich" application, which does nothing but display a red ruby.

More interestingly, Heinrich tells the Times that $1,000 is the highest amount a developer can charge through the App Store. Now that we know there’s a cap — that’s one heck of a high cap for mobile software.

What could the iPhone possibly run that could ever be worth more than, oh, say, $100? Apple has high hopes for its popular handset and the App Store. This has the potential to lead to exciting possibilities, but the company’s going to need to get its App Store more organized first.

Apple did not return phone calls before press time.

Updated at 10:05 a.m. PDT: Armin’s web site says seven people bought the app; two people bought it accidentally and will be receiving refunds.

Update at 9:40 a.m. PDT: Note to Gadget Lab readers: If you bought "I Am Rich" or know of a person who did, please e-mail us with contact information. We’d love to hear what buyers have to say.

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